Track for high-speed suspension railways



Feb. 14, 1928. 1,659,322

F. KRUCKENBERG ET AL TRACK FOR HIGH SPEED SUSPENSON RAILWAYS Filed Jan.24.. 1925 4 shees sheet 2 Feb. 14, 1928.

F. KRUCKENBERG ET AL TRACK FOR HIGH SPED SUSPENSION RAILWAYS Filed Jan.24, 1925 4 Sh ets-Sheet 3 Feb. 14, 1928, 1,659,322

F. KRUCKENBERG ET AL T RAcK-FoR HIGH SFEED SUSPENSION RAILwAYs FiledJan. 24, 1925 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patnted Feb. 14, 1928.

. UNITED STATE'S 59,322 PAT T Gene e. I

FRANZ kRUcK nBERG AND cum: STEDEFELD, OF H mELBERg, GERMANYfsAIDSTEDEFELD ASSIGNOR TO sm KRUCKENBERG.`

'TRACK 'FoR memspsni) SUSPENSION RAILWAYS.

Application filed 'January 24, 1925,Se'al No."4,568, and inGermany'February-G, 1924.*

The invention concerns ahigh speed suspension railway for suspensioncars travelling with very. great velocity about 20O`-300 M. P. H. on asingle'rail `:and particularly the Construction 'and arran ement of theper -nanent way for this `ralway. .Further the invention is concernedwith the details of the supporting means and also the'construction worksand steel work on which the railsupports are fixed;

The rail itself must, in this invention 'be protected against variationsof temperature, for example housediina tunnel-or tube or constructed ofa material whiclris'in-itself as far as possible inditferent totemperature changes such as Invar whose expansiom.

coefiicient for'temperature is so small as. .=to. be practicallynegligible. 'Sinceall shocks on 1 the car must be avoided at this highspeed the rail must' have throughout its whole length an absolutelysmooth surface' and must be made of a material which will Iot rust andwhich'is unaffected by atmospheric influences. Unevennesses orjoint-spaces which are present in the ordinary railway would at thegreat speed have `a serious elt'ect not only on the rail 'but also onthens prung parts of the running-gears of the cars. Since smalliuequalitiesof-'the track are in practice 'unavoidable the'rail must` hesupported in an elastic manner. and at the same time those portions ofthe track which must give heneath the weight of the car must he kept aslight as possible; thatir' the rail itself and the pa rts immediatelyadjuceut which must givcsutlicieutly quickly under the shock. Thoseunavoidably heavy parts such as the adjustment-arrangement for the railbrackets may advantageously be transferred to points which give verylittle in the elastie movements of the system. The reason for this isthat the inertia of an oscillating mass as is well known'is dependent onthe product of the mass and the square of its velocity.

Since the jointless rail of temperature-indilferent material remainsSuspended withont any appreciable expansion or contraction thegirderwork being ofordinary material must be construeted in such ananner as to be free to expand and contract independently of the rail.To this end are araranged iu this invention supports which hy hingingand bending allow the girdcrwork to expand independently of the rail notonly without introducing serious stresses but 'which :are able to give'vertically in an elastienanner. v i

Our invention is :illust-rated diagrammatieallyan'd by way of example'inthe accompanyng drawings in which: v

- Fig.- 1 (side -elevation) and-Fig. 2 (plan View): illustratediagrammatically an example-of a' girder work system forsupporting therail of a high-speed suspension rail way; v v

Figs.,3, 4, 5,- illustrate rail supports comprsng supporting arms whichmake'--angular mveient possible; by hinge=devces such as flexibleiplatw;

; Fig. 6 illustrates-a 'modified form' of railsupportar e r 7, 8,49illustrate arail-support comprsng a bearer-arm formed from waved strip'-springs,- thereby providing for vertical 'novement of the rail;

Figs.- 10 and 11 are detail illustrations of the hinge Vdevices=slown inFig. 9;

Fig. 12 illustrates another form of bearerarm whiehlike the' one shownin Fig. 8 provides' for vertical movement of the rail:

v Fig. bracket; e v 4 i ;'Figs. lLand 15 illustrate themethod ofad'usting the rails;

`ig. 16 is a tool, used for p'ose; z

Fig. 17 shows ferro-concrete eirder work for'high-speed suspension carsabove a -:ilway line;

Figs. 1'8 and 19 show iron girder works for high-speed suspension cars,respectively, hcside and above railway lines;

F ig. 20.sh0\vs an arrangement where the rail is protected againstinjury due to Variatons in temperature;

Fig. 21 illustrates a Construction wlierein the entire track isprotected against iujury by wind or variationsin temperature; and

Figs. 22 and 23 illustrate devices for protecting the cars against wind.

Fig. 1 shows in elevation and Fig. 2 in plan a diagrammatie example ofthe git-derwork system for the supporting of the raiL Both rails 1 arefastened to the girderwork 2 by means of a t'riangulated projectionconsi'sting of the arms 3 and 4:. Atcboth ends of the arms 3 and 4hinges 5 are introduced. The girderwork 2 is carried on colunns (i whichrest on hiuged beariugs 8 on the the above pur- 13- illustrate's-xan'adjustable rail greater the distance" apart of'thebearerarns-,'the"greater must be the weight of the rail and vice-versa.Therefore'there must be in this construction' 'one particular ar--angementwhich -is the=most favorable. To `=this end one may reduce theweight of the bearer-arm of Fig. 6' by making it of such a sectiona's'to have' a constant'bendingresistanee the section in consequencevarying intproportionto the length; In this way 'its mass-centerapproaches still nearer to the supporting girder-work so that the massto be moved is reduced still further; A further' reduction of the' massof the bearerarm can' be' etfected by using material with a must bemounted 'on the previously con-* structed -g'irderwork the bearer-armsinter'- posed must be such as to permit the exact' alig'nment of therail. A 'similar alignr'nent 'is necessary at the curves and inthetransition from the straight trackfiln order that in sucha transitionnoviolent increase of centrifugal force of the car shall take plate at thehigh speed the curves must be made according to certain definite lawsandbe laid quite smoothly. For this purpose in this invention anarrangement (see' Figs. 13 to 16) is provided which makes possible theexact alignment of the rail both vertically and horizontally.

On the gussetplate 31 (see F ig.' 13), which is fastened to theheurer-arm is arranged the rail-bracket 32 in a nanner that it isvertically adjustable while for horizontal adjustme'nt the side plates33 are provided. In either movable part namely the rail-bracket 32 andthe sideplates'33 the usual boltholes are 'replaced by larger oval slots37 and 37, respectivcly in which engage projections of the plates 38 and38* respectively. The latter are. iu the regions of the projections.provided with holes 35 and 35 in which the t'astening bolts fit Veryexactly. The series ot looking plates with the bolt-holes drilled indifferent positions is stoeked in a systematic assortment. In fittingthe rail-holders 32 those locking-plates are chosen in which the holes35 and 35 correspond exactly with the holes 38 and 38 in thegussetplates 31 when the rail has been correctly aligned. Thus by thelooking-plates and in particular the arrangement of the holes drilled inthem any desired adjustment of the rail 1 relative to the girderwork canhe ohtained. When the looking-plates with their projections are engagedin the slots in the rail-lolders and the bolts are passed through theholes and bolted up, the adjustnent of the rail is rendered permanent.Of

course the function of the oval slots and projections can be performedin other ways such as 'circular pro-jections and eccentrically drilledbolt-holes. For the tinest adjustnents of the rail a special arrangementshown in F i 14 is provided resembling a pair of divic ers the operationof which is carried out in eonj unction with an optical arrangementshown in Figs. 15 and 16. On the rail 1 is fixed a telescope 43 and at adistance away a cross hair 4:4. The adjustment of' the rail on theholder is performed as follows. Two pairs of dividers as shown in Fig.14 fit 'with their wingnut-ends. 39 in the holes 34 of the fixed part ofthe holder while the ball-ends 40 engage'with the holes 36 in thecorresponding -movable parts of thelolder (rail-bracket and sideplates). By turning'the screw spindle 42 by means of the hand-wheel 41the movements of the 'rail-holder 'parts'ean be carried out verylexactly; 'For the. alignment the optical ar- 'rangement is employeduntil the desired positionis attained. On the dividers may besmounted ascale for reading ofl' the movement given'; When the adjustment of thevarious parts has been'concluded by means of ,agauge or similar' device,the appropriate looking-plates are selected from the series havingbolt-holes, the distance apart of which is appropriate to the particularcase. c

These plates 38 will be bolted up with their projections engaging in:the spaces 37. For the easier selection ofthe appropriate plate theywill be stamped with indicating narks .u

and so formed that one set of plates can be used' for both adjustment-s.Naturally the two separate adju'stments can be provided for at differentpositions on the bearer-arms.

For instance the horizontal adjustment can be made by means of therail-bracket at the end'of the bearer-arms and the vertical adustmentprovide-d for at the point where the supporting arms join thegirderwork. J\ decsve factor n this question is as lxfol'v explamed thedistribution ot the spi-unguasscs.

The constructions supporting the mil must be shaped to conform with thecircm'- stances ot' any particular case. If an existing railway, canalor road be used in order to save earthwork and transport-costs theConstruction for carrying the quick-railwav must have a profile such asto allow the particular traflic to pass freely. They (our-:ist then ofgirders carried on posts or art-.hes (see sections Figs. 17-23). In theari-angement of this -girderwork is taken into rousideration thatinspection and repair-ork must be carried out on the track andconsequently platforms 47 (see 18,' 20, "22, and 23) are provided and inaddition a track 46 (see Figs. 17-22) along which re pair-cars 45 cantravel. Also the repair-cars shown in Figs. 17 to 19 and 21 and 22 causprings with one another, and rails Secured to the free ends of the saidbrackets.

9. In combnation, a superstructure, elastc brackets formed by bulged outflat springs projecting late'ally f'om said superstructure, said springsbeing arranged in pairs with the bulged out portions located oppositeone another, members connecting said bulged out portions of the springswith one another. and rails Secured to the free ends of said brackets.

10.111 combination, a superstructure, braekets projectng laterallytherefrom,

Vielding joints between said brackets and said superstructure, railsSecured to the brackets, and rail adjusting devices attached to saidbrackets and constructed and arranged for horizontal and verticaladjustment to pernit corresponding adjustment of the rails.

11. In combination, a superstructure, brackets projecting laterallytherefron, yielding joints between said brackets and saidsuperstructure, rails Secured to the brackets, rail fastening means andrail supporting means, said fastening means con` structed and arrangedfor vertical movement in said supporting means, and means for sccuringsaid fastening means in adjusted position, said supporting meansconstructed and arranged for horizontal movement relative to the bracketand means for securing said means in adjusted position.

12. In combination, a super-structure, brackets projecting laterallytherefrom, vielding joints between said brackets and saidsuperstructure, rails Secured to the brackets, rail fastening means andrail supporting means, said fastening means constructed and arranged forvertical movement in said supporting means, means for securing portingmeans, means pernitting shifting of 7,

said fastening means Yertically in said supporting means, and means forsecuring the i'astening means in adjusted position, means for adjustingthe rails horizontaliy, said rails having recesses, members having lugsadapted to engage said recesses and bolts connecting said members andthe rails.

14. In combination a superstructurc, brackets projecting laterallytherefrom, yielding joints between said brackets and saidsuperstructurc, rails Secured to the brackets, rail fastenng' means andrail supporting means, said fastening means being construeted andarranged to be shifted vertically in said supporting means, and meansfor securing said fastening means in ad justed position, means foradjusting the 'ails horizontally, adjustable plates having lugs adaptedto engage correspondingly located recesses in the rail-holders, saidplates han'- ing sets of holes provided at different pnrts and arrangedfor horizontal as Well as for vertical adjustment of the rails`fastening bolts, the bolts and holes being provided with marks.

In testimony whereof we aflix our signatures.

FRANZ KRUCKENBERG. CURT STEDEFELD.

